Father

Client

Samsung

Year

2019

Category

Film

Writer / Director

Jurian Gravett

Rising to the top; Choices and responsibilities.

Our team had a sit-down with director Jurian Gravett about his film ‘Father’ created for Samsung. We know Jurian as a director who loves to blur the lines between narrative and documentary film making. Here is a short Q&A with Jurian about this project.

What was your role within this project?I was the writer, director, editor and producer for this project.

What was the goal of this project? The goal of this project was fairly straightforward; to tell the full story of Bart van der Linden’s rise into the international world championships in Parkour & Freerunning, whilst he was struggling with his new-found responsibilities as a young father. The story however, is a complex web of variables, which individually all strongly influence the whole. To weave together these elements which were such an intrinsic part of the larger story, has proven to be one of the more difficult tasks I have faced so far.

Well, we love the film! What did you personally want to achieve with this project?Hopefully, the audience gets a glimpse of the reality that has faced Bart, as he had to juggle new responsibilities with old ambition. His path had been littered with challenges to say the least, and I wanted to create a similar feeling of insecurity throughout most of the film. This mostly translates into the decisions made in cinematography and music & sound design.

Were there any specific challenges during the production process?An intimate project that digs deep into a real life has always been the most challenging for me. Throw in an athlete who gets injured during production and a significant shortage of finance to produce the film we really wanted to make, and you’ve got yourself a real puzzle. However, I’m always excited to work hard when a story feels like it ‘deserves it’, and we all put in the extra effort to make this one count.

So, you’re happy with the result?Yes, I’m very happy with the result. It has been by far the most demanding project for me, but I’m happy I did it. Sometimes as filmmakers, we just have this inexplainable need to create this story, regardless of the ridiculous conditions thrown at us. I guess this was one of them. What I also found interesting, is that a huge amount of viewers reached out to Bart and his girlfriend Marie to congratulate or remark on what was a very special and decisive time for them. I like to think I contributed a little bit in that.